Bender Leadership Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 830988251
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Moon Township, PA, USA
- Phone
- 4127878567
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Employment N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $910,485
- Expenses
- $625,106
- Assets
- $988,210
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOYCE A BENDER (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JOYCE A BENDER (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR): $34,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Bender leadership academy's mission is to increase long-term competitive employment for youth with disabilities. Bender leadership academy is founded on a commitment to serving the disability community, with a focus on the value and abilities each person can contribute to the workforce. We do this by educating program participants with key competencies that will improve their chance for success in the workplace and in adulthood. This education is supplemented with messaging focused on empowering our youth to raise the bar and speak up; to not be limited or silenced by the perceptions and stigma that act as barriers to success. We have realized amazing impact with our program participants; these students become beacons of positivity for their peers and harbingers of a more hopeful and inclusive society.
What it reported doing in 2024
The bender leadership academy delivers competency-building programs that enable students with disabilities to engage in educational, empowerment and work opportunities, celebrate successes, and set and achieve career journey goals. Bender leadership academy's goal is to increase long-term competitive employment for youth with disabilities. There are 7 main program titles: (1) work readiness training, which focuses on foundational skills assessment, dressing for success, resume building and practice interviews, presentation public speaking skills, virtual workplace tours, and utilizes employer partners for practice interview experiences, (2) student leaders training, which focuses on leadership, initiative, anti-bullying, resume building and interview skills, presentation public speaking skills, networking and employer connections, virtual workplace tours, and utilizes speakers from employer partners to reinforce concepts, (3) certifcations (icdl international computing drivers license and nrf customer service), which focus on self-paced online modules, the seven microsoft suite basic functionality certifications, virtual proctoring and assessment, soft skills, with instructor oversite, as well as the basic customer service concepts, (4) digital access @ work, which teaches web content accessibility guidelines (wcag), digital accessibility testing methodologies, color contrast analyzer (cca), and non-visual desktop access (nvda), and (5) jarrett community engagement training, which focuses on leadership, self-advocacy, advocacy for disability rights, volunteerism, the importance of voting, and how to take action utilizing speakers from employer partners to reinforce concepts, (6) advanced student leaders to continue the development of public speaking and leadership skills while learning how to put your workplace skills to practical use. Bender leadership academy's advanced student leaders program continues to focus on leadership, initiative, and improving interview skills along with financial literacy, entrepreneurship, community engagement, advocacy, healthy mind habits and utilizes speakers from employer partners to reinforce concepts, (7) education2employment to provide experiences that take students from learning to practical application. By collaborating with community employers, bender leadership academy oversees a variety of opportunities that help students apply what they have learned in a supported work experience.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 61
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 67
- Sustainability: 74
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 58.8%; rating input score 59
- Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 31.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 30.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 58.8% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $528K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $34K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.